"the ""English Riviera"". The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth) who often is the peacemaker and voice of reason, and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs), showing their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople. In May 1970, the Monty Python comedy group stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, Devon while filming on location in Paignton. John Cleese was fascinated with the behaviour of the owner, Donald Sinclair,"
"Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Scales (née Illingworth; born 22 June 1932), is an English actress best known for her role as Basil Fawlty's wife Sybil in the BBC comedy ""Fawlty Towers"" and her BAFTA award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in ""A Question of Attribution"" (""Screen One"", BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett. Scales was born in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, the daughter of Catherine (née Scales), an actress, and John Richardson Illingworth, a cotton salesman. She attended Moira House Girls School, Eastbourne. She has a younger brother, Tim (""Timmo""). Scales' parents moved their family to Bucks Mill near Bideford in Devon"
"she retired from her acting career. Seely died of cardiac failure in Culver City, California, at the age of 82. She was survived by a son and a sister. Sybil Seely Sybil Seely (January 2, 1902 – June 26, 1984) was a silent film actress who worked with the well known silent film comedy actor Buster Keaton. She was credited in most of her films as Sibye Trevilla. Sybil Seely was born Sybil Travilla to Harry Travilla and Lucie Ellen Boyker in Los Angeles. Seely acted in her first film, ""Hearts and Flowers"" at the age of 17. She is"
"Sybil Seely Sybil Seely (January 2, 1902 – June 26, 1984) was a silent film actress who worked with the well known silent film comedy actor Buster Keaton. She was credited in most of her films as Sibye Trevilla. Sybil Seely was born Sybil Travilla to Harry Travilla and Lucie Ellen Boyker in Los Angeles. Seely acted in her first film, ""Hearts and Flowers"" at the age of 17. She is known to have appeared in 21 films, some opposite Buster Keaton. In 1920, she married screenwriter Jules Furthman. They had a son, Jules Jr., born in 1921. In 1922,"
"at last and is surprised that she is only a little girl. Sybil embraces a weeping Peggy. A voiceover from Dr. Wilbur explains that after this incident, Sybil recovered her memories and went on to live a full and happy life as an academic. Sally Field stars in the title role, with Joanne Woodward playing the part of Sybil's psychiatrist, Cornelia B. Wilbur. Woodward herself had starred in ""The Three Faces of Eve"", in which she portrayed a woman with three personalities, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role. Based on the book ""Sybil"" by Flora Rheta"
"school, and then Cambridge-educated Cleese and the working class, self-educated Mancunian Dawson) were marked, but both worked well together from series 8 onwards until the series ended in 1976. Cleese achieved greater prominence in the United Kingdom as the neurotic hotel manager Basil Fawlty in ""Fawlty Towers"", which he co-wrote with his wife Connie Booth. The series won three BAFTA awards when produced and in 2000, it topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. The series also featured Prunella Scales as Basil's acerbic wife Sybil, Andrew Sachs as the much abused Spanish waiter Manuel"
"Sybil Christopher Sybil Christopher (27 March 1929 – 7 March 2013) was a Welsh actress, theatre director, and founder of popular celebrity New York nightclub ""Arthur"". She first came into the public eye as the first wife of Richard Burton. Sybil Williams was born on 27 March 1929, in Tylorstown, Mid Glamorgan. She attended the London Academy of Dramatic Arts (now LAMDA), meeting Richard Burton during the filming of ""The Last Days of Dolwyn"" (1949). After their marriage, she retired from acting, performing only a few times, and generally on stage rather than on film. The marriage ended famously in"
"Sybil (2007 film) Sybil is a 2007 American made-for-television drama film directed by Joseph Sargent and written by John Pielmeier based on the 1973 book ""Sybil"" by Flora Rheta Schreiber which fictionalized the story of Shirley Ardell Mason, who was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (more commonly then as ""split personality"", now called dissociative identity disorder). This is the second adaptation of the book, following the Emmy Award-winning 1976 miniseries ""Sybil"" that was broadcast by NBC. The university scenes were filmed at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. In January 2006, ""The Hollywood Reporter"" announced CBS had greenlit the project, but"
"Sybil Jason Sybil Jason (born Sybil Jacobson; 23 November 1927 – 23 August 2011) was a South African-born American child film actress who, in the late 1930s, was presented as a rival to Shirley Temple. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she began playing the piano at age two and, a year later, began making public appearances doing impersonations of Maurice Chevalier. She was introduced to the theatre-going public of London by way of her uncle, Harry Jacobson, a then-popular London orchestra leader and also pianist to Gracie Fields. The apex of her career came with a concert performance with"
"Jessica Brown Findlay Jessica Rose Brown Findlay (born 14 September 1989) is an English actress, most widely known for her role as Lady Sybil Crawley in the ITV television period drama series"" Downton Abbey"", and for her role as Emelia Conan Doyle in the 2011 British comedy-drama feature film ""Albatross"". In 2014, she appeared as Beverly Penn in the film adaptation of the Mark Helprin novel ""Winter's Tale"". In 2015, she co-starred in Paul McGuigan's ""Victor Frankenstein"" as Lorelei, the Esmerelda-like acrobat. In 2016, she joined the cast of the new biopic feature film, ""England is Mine"", about the early"
"Martine Bartlett Martine Bartlett (April 24, 1925 – April 5, 2006) was an American actress. A life member of The Actors Studio, Bartlett is best-remembered, albeit not by name, for her chilling performance as Hattie Dorsett, the seriously disturbed, abusive mother of Sally Field's title character in ""Sybil"". She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the middle child of three siblings born to George Daniel Bartlett (1894–1971) and his wife Martine (née Fons 1895–1983). George Bartlett was an attorney. Martine graduated from the John Burroughs School and Washington University in St. Louis. She was active onstage with the former St."
"Germans"". Booth, who had not done television acting in front of an audience before, wanted to keep Polly as a relatively minor character. According to Cleese, they realised Polly would be a ""beacon of sanity"", whose sense of ""instinctive decency"" leads her to save Basil from his foibles. He credits Booth's performance in a scene of ""The Anniversary"", where she argues with Basil over his plan for Polly to impersonate Sybil in order to save his embarrassment, as ""marvellous"". Polly Sherman Polly Sherman is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom ""Fawlty Towers"". Played by Connie Booth, she is Fawlty"
"of brown ale' while drunk, which implies a working-class background, as do some traces of working-class speech in her accent. Basil and Sybil married on 17 April 1964 (although Sybil once joked they were married in 1485) and opened their hotel in 1964. In November 2007, Scales returned to the role of Sybil Fawlty in a series of sketches for the BBC's annual ""Children in Need"" charity telethon. The character was seen taking over the management of the eponymous hotel from the BBC drama series ""Hotel Babylon"", interacting with characters from that programme as well as other sitcom characters. The"
"of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to seriously and terminally ill children. Emma Samms Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson MBE (born 28 August 1960), known professionally as Emma Samms, is a British actress and TV host, best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera ""General Hospital"" and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the prime time soap opera ""Dynasty"". Samms was born in London, England, the daughter of Madeleine U. (née White), a ballet dancer, and Michael E. W. Samuelson, who owned"
"Sybil Gordon Sybil Gordon was a British singer. She is best remembered for her performances in Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1926 to 1931. Gordon started out as a concert singer. After her career with the D'Oyly Carte company, she moved to Canada, where she broadcast on the radio. In the 1981 film ""Chariots of Fire"", she is misidentified as the fiancée of Olympic runner Harold Abrahams. Early in her career, Gordon won first prize at the 1923 Blackpool Music Competition, judged by Sir Steuart Wilson. At this time, she was singing as a"
"Sybil (Schreiber book) Sybil is a 1973 book by Flora Rheta Schreiber about the treatment of Sybil Dorsett (a pseudonym for Shirley Ardell Mason) for dissociative identity disorder (then referred to as ""multiple personality disorder"") by her psychoanalyst, Cornelia B. Wilbur. The book was made into two television movies of the same name, once in 1976 and again in 2007. There has also been books published after the fact, challenging the facts of Sybil's therapy sessions. A few examples of these are ""SYBIL in her own words, Sybil Exposed"", and ""After Sybil"". Mason is given the pseudonym ""Sybil"" by her"
"Gilly Flower Gilly Flower (26 August 1908 – 17 February 2001) was an English actress and model, best remembered as the elderly Miss Abitha Tibbs in the BBC sitcom ""Fawlty Towers"". Gilly Flower played Miss Tibbs in all twelve episodes of the show, which was produced in two six-episode series separated by a three-and-a-half-year interval (September–October 1975 and February–March 1979, apart from the twelfth episode which was not shown until October 1979). A native of London, Gilly Flower had her first film role in 1932 and, with the advent of television in Britain, she found a new outlet for her"
"been renewed for a second season. 2017 also saw the debut of ""This Beautiful Fantastic"", an indie film in which Brown-Findlay starred as Bella Brown, a repressed foundling who forms a new life through her relationships with a curmudgeonly neighbor (Tom Wilkinson), a gifted cook (Andrew Scott) and an eccentric inventor (Jeremy Irvine). That same year, she voiced the character of Fay in the animated film, ""Monster Family"". Jessica Brown Findlay Jessica Rose Brown Findlay (born 14 September 1989) is an English actress, most widely known for her role as Lady Sybil Crawley in the ITV television period drama series"""
"a sketch of a troubled life than a fully realized portrait, which also detracts from its power to break your heart."" Sybil (2007 film) Sybil is a 2007 American made-for-television drama film directed by Joseph Sargent and written by John Pielmeier based on the 1973 book ""Sybil"" by Flora Rheta Schreiber which fictionalized the story of Shirley Ardell Mason, who was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (more commonly then as ""split personality"", now called dissociative identity disorder). This is the second adaptation of the book, following the Emmy Award-winning 1976 miniseries ""Sybil"" that was broadcast by NBC. The university scenes"
"Julian Fellowes, discussed the plot twist, ""Jessica [Brown Findlay, who played Sybil,] had said she was going to leave right from the beginning. She said, ""I'm doing three years, then I'm leaving"", So that was all worked out"", Fellowes said of Lady Sybil's death, which occurred shortly after she gave birth to her and Tom Branson's baby daughter. She next appeared as Abi in the ""Black Mirror"" episode ""Fifteen Million Merits"" with English actor Daniel Kaluuya. The episode imagined a dystopian future where people earn merits on exercise bikes in order to audition for reality TV judges. In 2012, Brown"
"Cameron Mackintosh produced another revival of the show which opened at the London Palladium in the West End on 8 December 1994. The production team included a young Sam Mendes as director, with Anthony Ward as designer, Matthew Bourne as choreographer, Martin Koch as music supervisor and William David Brohn as orchestrator. The cast included Jonathan Pryce (after much persuasion) as Fagin, Sally Dexter as Nancy, Miles Anderson as Bill Sikes, James Villiers as Mr. Brownlow, James Saxon as Mr. Bumble, Jenny Galloway as Widow Corney, David Delve as Mr. Sowerberry and Julia Deakin as Mrs. Sowerberry. The role of"
"Emma Samms Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson MBE (born 28 August 1960), known professionally as Emma Samms, is a British actress and TV host, best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera ""General Hospital"" and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the prime time soap opera ""Dynasty"". Samms was born in London, England, the daughter of Madeleine U. (née White), a ballet dancer, and Michael E. W. Samuelson, who owned a film equipment rental company. Her grandfather, G. B. Samuelson, was a pioneer of British cinema. Samms was raised in the"
"BBC's annual ""Children in Need"" charity telethon. The character was seen taking over the management of the eponymous hotel from the BBC drama series ""Hotel Babylon,"" interacting with characters from that program as well as other 1970s sitcom characters. The character of Sybil was used by permission of John Cleese. In 2007, the Los Angeles Film School produced seven episodes of ""Fawlty Tower Oxnard"" starring Robert Romanus as Basil Fawlty. In 2016, Cleese reprised his role as Basil in a series of TV adverts for High Street optician chain Specsavers. The same year, Cleese and Booth reunited to create and"
"Mason, whose case became the subject of the book, ""Sybil,"" the 1976 television miniseries ""Sybil starring Sally Field, and the 2007 television movie ""Sybil"" starring Jessica Lange. In the 1960s, Spiegel saw Mason for approximately four years after Mason's regular therapist, Dr. Cornelia B. Wilbur, sought Siegel's assistance in sharpening the diagnosis. According to Siegel, Wilbur had diagnosed Sybil at the time as a schizophrenic. Siegel examined Sybil and discovered that she was highly hypnotizable. Siegel used Sybil for a number of studies and as a demonstration case in his classes on hypnosis at Columbia. He developed a rapport with"
"Natasha Ryan), garnering acclaim for her performance. She made her last known appearance in an episode of the television series ""Remington Steele"" (1983). Martine Bartlett died at age 80 of kidney disease in Tempe, Arizona. She never married or had children. Martine Bartlett Martine Bartlett (April 24, 1925 – April 5, 2006) was an American actress. A life member of The Actors Studio, Bartlett is best-remembered, albeit not by name, for her chilling performance as Hattie Dorsett, the seriously disturbed, abusive mother of Sally Field's title character in ""Sybil"". She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the middle child of"
"Pamela Sue Martin Pamela Sue Martin (born January 5, 1953) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of teenage detective Nancy Drew on the television series ""The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries"" and for originating the role of socialite Fallon Carrington Colby on the ABC nighttime soap opera ""Dynasty"". Born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in nearby Westport, Martin began modeling at 17, and appeared in ""The Poseidon Adventure"" (opposite Gene Hackman) in 1972, at the age of 19. More films followed, including ""Our Time"" and ""Buster and Billie"". Later, her work as ABC-TV's Nancy Drew made"
"Sybil Arundale Sybil Arundale (20 June 1879 – 5 September 1965) was an English stage and film actress born Sybil Kelly. From age 11, Arundale appeared with her sister Grace in music halls, where they were billed as ""The Sisters Arundale"". An early dramatic role, in 1898, was Oberon in ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"" and later as Rosalind in ""As You Like It"". She appeared with the Birmingham Repertory Company, where she performed in Ibsen’s ""The Pillars of Society"" and ""The Wild Duck"". She also appeared in pantomime and musicals, including ""Dick Whittington and His Cat"", ""The Toreador"", ""Venus"" by"
"Sybil Danning Sybil Danning (born Sybille Johanna Danninger; May 24, 1952) is an Austrian American actress, model, and film producer. She is best known for her frequent appearances in B movies during the 1970s and 1980s. Born in Wels, Austria, Danning spent most of her childhood on military bases and traveling with her family around the world. After their return to Austria, she landed a job as a dental hygienist to support her family following her parents' divorce. At the age of sixteen, Danning left her home and relocated to Salzburg, where she enrolled at a school of cosmetology. Working"
"in horror after stumbling across the body in the hotel office. In that episode it is revealed that Tibbs is 79. Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby Miss Abitha Tibbs and Miss Ursula Gatsby are fictional characters, played by Gilly Flower and Renee Roberts respectively, in the BBC television sitcom ""Fawlty Towers"". Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby are two mostly inseparable and slightly scatty elderly spinsters who are permanent residents of Fawlty Towers (the only other long-term guest being Major Gowen). Basil Fawlty switches from being overly kind to being utterly rude during his various conversations with them, although they rarely"
"an interview on 8 May 2009 that the role of Sybil Fawlty was originally offered to Bridget Turner, who turned down the part, claiming ""it wasn't right for her"". She starred in the 2011 British live-action 3D family comedy film """" as the titular character's Great Aunt Greta. Prunella Scales appeared in a short audio story, ""Dandruff Hits the Turtleneck"", written by John Mayfield, and available for download. She starred in a Virgin Short ""Stranger Danger"" alongside Roderick Cowie in 2012. In 2013 she made a guest appearance in the popular BBC radio comedy ""Cabin Pressure"" as Wendy Crieff, the"
"Sybil Grey Sybil Grey (3 January 1860–20 August 1939), born Ellen Sophia Taylor, was a British singer and actress during the Victorian era best known for creating a series of minor roles in productions by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including roles in several of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas, from 1880 to 1888. Afterwards, she went on to a long West End theatre career, appearing in both musical theatre and plays. Grey was born in London’s Conduit Street West, the second daughter of Henry Taylor, a linen draper, and his Exeter-born wife Susannah. Grey began her stage career"
"Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby Miss Abitha Tibbs and Miss Ursula Gatsby are fictional characters, played by Gilly Flower and Renee Roberts respectively, in the BBC television sitcom ""Fawlty Towers"". Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby are two mostly inseparable and slightly scatty elderly spinsters who are permanent residents of Fawlty Towers (the only other long-term guest being Major Gowen). Basil Fawlty switches from being overly kind to being utterly rude during his various conversations with them, although they rarely understand his sarcasm. They are depicted as being ""on the edge of their eighties"". The two ladies appear in every episode"
"and no one knows anything about her. Eighteen years elapse and the child appears as the young debutante Sybil (Lovely) at a birthday party where she meets Hartley Royce (Quinn) and Gerald Waldron (Mulhall), who both fall in love with her. Julie (Myers) is jealous of Sybil, and plots with Harley to keep her separated from Gerald. Sybil tries to have Hadji (Selbie) tell the fortunes of the guests. While on an errand Sybil is followed by the impetuous Hartley who takes her in his arms, and to avoid him she jumps off a cliff into the sea. As the"